Sylvania, GA

Sylvania is Screven County’s seat, a small city of 2,634 residents in the 2020 census where U.S. 301 and Georgia 21 skirt the west side and Georgia 73 runs through downtown. That road pattern keeps the courthouse center connected to Statesboro and the South Carolina line. Downtown’s 2005 revitalization added sidewalks and other improvements, and the city’s older story is tied to county offices, the courthouse, and the routes that bring surrounding farm communities into town. April’s annual Livestock Festival brings a county-wide agricultural tradition into the center, with a parade and the crowning of the festival queen.

ATTRPublished by Screven-Jenkins Regional Library System, Sylvania, Georgia / Public domain

Sylvania’s post-office mural, painted in 1941 by Caroline Speare Rohland and now held by Georgia Southern University, carries a piece of the local New Deal-era story beyond the courthouse. Schools serve pre-K through grade 12, and recent downtown festivals have put live music, food vendors, and games on Main Street. Sylvania’s local map is county government, farm-country roads, and a downtown that doubles as event ground.